


Late Night Remixes

by c0cunt



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Implied Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-19 07:56:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4738637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c0cunt/pseuds/c0cunt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean takes appreciating a song to whole new levels.  And somehow makes a new friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late Night Remixes

**Author's Note:**

> LISTEN HERE DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DIFFERENT REMIXES OF THE SONG "CLARITY" THERE IS?
> 
> AT LEAST FIFTEEN. THERE ARE AT LEAST FIFTEEN REMIXES OF CLARITY THAT I LISTENED TO FOR THIS. THAT'S A LOT OF DAMN REMIXES. THERE ARE 164,000 MATCHES FOR "zedd clarity remix" ON YOUTUBE.

 

   Jean always had a soft spot for overplayed songs that could be considered to be about love. This fact led to the demise of many friendships and relationships alike, as his tendency to pull these songs up when someone was five levels of angry and frustrated was almost uncanny. Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me? In his top 10 most played. Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On? He still bawled his eyes out whenever he played it (which was more frequently than most of his friends tolerated). He didn't just break these songs out when anger and frustration were running high, though. At any given time, someone could snatch away his little MP3 player and see that it was almost always on the "fav songs" mix, that consisted entirely of these songs. Connie had pulled it away from him once, and had spent five minutes wrapping his head around the idea that his grouchy, sneering, cynical best friend listened almost exclusively to love songs. Yes, Jean Kirschstein had an unhealthy love of love songs that transcended genre. So it was no wonder that he latched onto Zedd's Clarity like a puppy to new toy.

   Almost alarmingly quickly, Jean had consumed it. Within an evening, he had every single beat, drop, piano key memorized. Lyric memorization followed just as quickly, dipping and spinning around his room, surprisingly graceful in such a tiny cluttered closet of a bedroom. It was only after the song had played enough to scrape its way into Jean's top ten played, that he collapsed with a grin on his face, spinning the volume down. The now familiar song whispered quietly across the confines of the room, it only took a few more repeats before Jean was asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

   As the week passed, soon Connie had the damn song almost memorized from how frequently Jean played it. It wasn't like the other songs he had obsessively listened to; no, this time it was much worse. Instead of Jean's interest fading within a day, he played it with even more fervor, to Connie's dismay. He didn't even have to ask what song Jean was humming, as it was always the same few notes that wouldn't shake from his mind. It was pure torture, and Connie could only handle so much before he tossed Jean out of their apartment to run errands nightly. As the possible errands to run quickly evaporated, Connie turned to desperate measures.

   "Please, for the love of all that is holy, if you're going to play that damned song, get out of the apartment!" Connie wailed, as Jean returned from another grocery run, earbuds dangling around his neck with the damned song playing loudly. Jean just snorted, tossing his keys and the candy that Connie had insisted on him getting onto their coffee table.

   "Dude, chill, what do you have against my song?" Jean grumbled, and would have flopped down onto their couch if Connie hadn't taken the opportunity to snatch his arm and wrestle him out of the apartment. Squawking loudly in protest, Jean complied, if only to keep his arm intact. It was only as door was slammed shut in his face, that he realized he was now locked out of his apartment with only $20 and his MP3 player on him. Groaning loudly, Jean let his head thump against the door, an unyieldingly sharp shout of "no!" from within, followed by the sound of the deadbolt being locked, informed him of just how screwed he was.

 

   Muttering curses under his breath, Jean slowly wandered out of the building, crushing his earbuds into his ears mercilessly, as if that would make his situation improve. It didn't, but at least Jean could drown out his annoyance with his song. Mindlessly wandering around in any city was probably not the best idea, but as Connie probably wouldn't let him back in for at least another hour (a little more than thirteen plays of the song), Jean didn't have much choice. Maybe a quick bus to the park would help him calm down. With a destination in mind, Jean confidently strode to the bus stop, consciously having to stop himself from swinging his hips to the beat.

   There were several people waiting at the stop already, all of whom seemed to be silent, so Jean felt quiet comfortable leaning against the pole with the bus signs on it, even though there was still some room on the small bench beside it. Closing his eyes, he couldn't help but sigh as he finally started to let his body relax a little, after such a stupidly long day. Three classes and two labs in one day, plus being ordered to run errands, and being booted out of his apartment...It just wasn't his day. Maybe he shouldn't have played Clarity so much, but Connie knew just how intensely Jean appreciated new-to-him songs...So deep in thought was Jean, that he didn't even budge as the bus he was supposed to hop on came and went, not even when his left earbud slipped out of his ear as well. But he did jump ten feet in the air when someone prodded at his shoulder gently.

 

   Almost losing balance with how swiftly he turned around, Jean started to puff himself up to yell at whomever it was that had dared to touch him. The man who had prodded him had jumped back several feet, and was sheepishly holding his hands up in a placating gesture. Freckles dotted the man's arms and face liberally, like someone had decided to take up splatter painting and this poor bystander had gotten mistaken for a canvas, and Jean almost didn't mind having to look up at this guy's face. It wasn't exactly a secret that Jean was a sucker for guys that were (even slightly) taller than him, or freckled. Jean decided not to start yelling yet, as he squinted suspiciously at this man, crossing his arms and waiting for an explanation.

   "Sorry, but do you know what time the last bus comes by? Kinda forgot to check the schedule..." The man asked, rubbing the back of his neck and looking even more apologetic than absolutely necessary in Jean's opinion. Sighing again, Jean barely noted that they were the only ones at the stop now, as he slowly (as if to show how much of an effort checking the time was) lifted his wrist to glance at his watch. Having memorized the bus schedule several months ago had definitely been a good move on his part, but it didn't help at all as his brain slowly read the numbers that glowed up at him cheerfully.

   "Unless the bus is running late, the next one won't be coming for another hour." Jean announced, before glaring up at the signs as if it were their fault he had missed the bus. Swearing quietly, he pinched the bridge of his nose, ignoring the man in front of him for a few seconds. The park would definitely be closed by the time the next bus came around, so there really wasn't anything that Jean could do. Ignoring his own annoyance for a second, Jean grimaced at the guy as he added, "Guess that means we're fucked for now."

   Wait, we? Just as Jean realized he had unintentionally lumped himself with this stranger, Freckles (as Jean had immediately dubbed him) sighed and smiled tiredly as he laughed. "Yeah, just my luck. Should've checked the schedule..." Another sigh from Freckles, as he collapsed onto the bench with a laugh. "Sorry to interrupt your music though, must've been really good," he added, throwing a more genuine smile up at Jean. Jean shrugged, leaning more heavily against the pole, attempting to be nonchalant. Clarity was still playing loudly, but it was definitely background noise as Jean focused more on his new companion.

   Freckles cocked his head slightly, as if listening as well to the song. "Is that...Clarity?" He asked, frowning slightly. Immediately feeling defensive, Jean bit at his lip as he nodded, daring him to badmouth his song. Freckles grinned, practically sparkling as he dug into his own pocket to pull out an old brick of an iPod. "Is that the original? I have a ton of remixes, but I've never gotten around to getting the original!" He enthused, bouncing slightly on the bench as he scrolled through a playlist that Jean could see was titled "Clarity". Jean raised an eyebrow slightly, before slowly offering Freckles the fallen earbud. Delicately, Freckles plucked it out of Jean's grip, but didn't shove it in his ear just yet.

   "Maybe I should introduce myself before sharing earwax," he mumbled, laughing slightly at his own joke, but it was okay because Jean chuckled as well. "I'm Marco." Freckles, no, Marco, added, another dazzling smile pulling at his lips.  
   "'m Jean," he grunted, as he wiggled his player out of his pocket to start the song over. At that point, Marco proceeded to shove the earbud into the ear that was closest to Jean, bobbing his head slightly to the song. Jean was just barely fast enough to turn repeat off, the silence in his ear ringing loudly as Marco handed back the borrowed earbud. Jean stuffed his player into his pocket, earbuds tangling ferociously as he shoved the wires down violently.

 

   Marco was unwinding his own earbuds as Jean continued to struggle with his, slowly rousing the brick awake. By the time Jean looked up, Marco was offering his earbud in return. Willing himself not to blush, Jean took it with a small smile.

 

Neither of them really minded when they missed the last bus of the night, Marco penning his number onto Jean's arm when they parted.

**Author's Note:**

> (The length of Marco's playlist includes sixteen different remixes, and is almost an hour and a half long)


End file.
